1 / 6
60 likes | 64 Vues
Not being able to use a calculator in the GAMSAT Exam adds another layer of difficulty to this already-feared test. We've put together these slides to provide you with tips and tricks to help you solve problems quickly and accurately even without a calculator. For more information, read our detailed article here: https://gradready.com.au/posts/gamsat-preparation-courses/no-calculator-no-worries
E N D
No calculator?...No worries! • You’re probably reeling internally from the news that you can’t use a calculator in the GAMSAT exam. • For the majority of us, calculating things by hand is something we haven’t done since early high school. Fortunately, there are a few things we’ll discuss here which you can practise now to ensure this doesn’t hold you back unnecessarily. • There are a couple of reasons why people worry over their non-calculator skills. The first surrounds actually being able to do the calculations required by the questions, and the next to do them in the time available.
No calculator?...No worries! • First things first, Section III of the GAMSAT® Exam is really the section where you will be required to do some calculations. • It’s helpful to keep in mind here that the GAMSAT® Exam has been designed to test your logical thinking skills in the physical and biological sciences and that it’s written with the calculator restrictions in mind. • This means that you won’t be tested on highly complicated mathematical theory, or likewise asked to complete page-long derivations. Rather, what you’ll need to focus on is being able to do by hand what you used to do on a calculator without a second thought.
No calculator?...No worries! • It absolutely is possible to do all the questions in section III without a calculator - if it wasn’t, then they wouldn’t put them in the exam! • To add some context, some of the things which you’ll need to be able to do for section III include: computations with fractions and/or decimals, basic geometry and trigonometry, and manipulating exponentials and logarithms. • Secondly, timing. It’s arguably the biggest mountain you’ll have to climb, as section III of the GAMSAT® Exam contains 75 questions in 150 minutes. So to be able to approach this section without a calculator, you’ll need to be experienced at performing calculations. FAST.
No calculator?...No worries! • To reasonably tackle the problem of timing, from the perspective doing the calculations alone, you will need to practise. But practise alone usually won’t do the trick. Instead, the key here is to learn what mathematical ‘tricks’ or shortcuts work best for you. • If you find yourself unable to perform calculations in less than 2-3 minutes, try looking at how others think of the problems and seeing if you can apply someone else’s logic. • Take every opportunity you can to do calculations by hand and do away with checking things on a calculator once you’ve had a bit of practise. • Also, finding ways of performing a quick ‘sanity check’ on your answer - even if it’s just thinking about the magnitude of the value you’ve computed - will work wonders for your confidence and thereby help you with both your speed and accuracy.
Further Materials • GAMSAT Section 3: How to Prepare • Free GAMSAT Preparation Materials • GAMSAT Biology: How to prepare • GAMSAT Chemistry: How to Prepare • GAMSAT Physics: How to Prepare • Don’t forget to sign up for our GAMSAT Free Trial, which includes 50 MCQs from our Intelligent MCQ Bank, access to our week-by-week study guide for each section, and a wealth of our GAMSAT resources: https://gradready.com.au/gamsat-preparation-courses/free-gamsat-trial
